Welcome readers to another random post. I hope some of these thoughts will bless you or cause you to act as you muse with me this week!
I have been listening to Exploring the Industry with Shawn Bolz. https://bolzministries.com/ It is encouraging for me to hear what God is doing through obedient servants in Los Angeles. My daughter and her husband are raising their two children there and it has given me hope that they will come into their destiny in Christ as many others have in the Hollywood area. There are many people in the industry that went against their families or church to follow the dream in their heart and walked away from God and church. Those who have done ministry within the industry are finding these lost ones and bringing them back into the fold. It’s good to hear about the excellent Christian content in media that is coming forth when these people catch the fire of God’s love.
Do you realize we can die peacefully in our bed, couch or favorite chair; or like Enoch, Elijah and Moses, be taken up to heaven; in perfect health of body, mind and soul?
Deuteronomy 34:7Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished.
I’ve heard that because Moses saw God’s glory, that glory made it so he would never die [remember his glowing face that the people made him cover?], so God had to take him out of this world. What will it look like when we shine with the Glory of God? God hid Moses’ body so the people couldn’t find his tomb and worship him as their idol.
But not all the patriarchs made it to old age unscathed. Isaac’s eyes were dim.
Genesis 27:1a ‘Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son…’ 21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
King David could not get warm.
1 Kings 1:1 Now King David was old, advanced in years; and they put covers on him, but he could not get warm. 2 Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her stand before the king, and let her care for him; and let her lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may be warm.” 3 So they sought for a lovely young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The young woman was very lovely; and she cared for the king, and served him; but the king did not know her.
Notice the end of 1 Kings 1:4 says “but the king did not know her.” She was in his bed. But they had no sexual relations.
Getting back to the glory shining on Moses’ face: I heard about families affected by God’s glory during the Azusa Street Revival in California in the early 1900s. They lived in divine health and healing. If one of the children was injured, they would pray right away and the child would be healed. In fact, Sid Roth has interviewed a man who was one of those children who is still alive to tell about the glory cloud in the church. It was so heavy the children played hide and seek in it!
Matthew 13:24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
Let the ‘good wheat’ the Father planted continue to grow and the ‘tares’ or weeds the enemy planted grow with them until the harvest. I’ve had an authentic example of this in my garden. Some of my pea plants are growing right out of a weed, and I found I cannot pull up the weed without pulling up the plant. In our life, there are ‘tares’ sown among the Church brethren, but taking them out before harvest ruins both the good and the bad. What do you think this looks like in practice with people? Have you seen an example in your own life?
Racial unrest? Check out https://civilrighteousness.org/ for help to process the racial unrest from a Biblical perspective and take action to beat back the tide of divide. I heard about this sit when Shawn Bolz interviewed Jonathan Tremaine (JT) Thomas on Exploring the Prophetic Season 3, Episode 50 [I watch these episodes on Podbean].
Another podcast I follow is Bethel Church Sermon of the Week. The one that intrigued me is The Game is Rigged from July 11, 2020. As Dr. Kevin Zadai says, “The game is rigged. There’s no way we can lose because God has a plan and failure is not part of it.” Games have rules and consequences, so people know how to play. The Hunger Games show us a zero-sum ending where you kill before they kill you. In Jesus, we have a higher level of play than this.
We need to learn how to live from Scriptures, not the world’s game makers. Jesus sets us up for success. We need to fight the kind of fights He did. Look for redemption, make room for apology and forgiveness, and have restoration as a goal. Not the ‘cancel culture’ with an accusatory attitude. The woman caught in adultery; He did not condemn, but told her “go and sin no more.” May we be redemptive and restorative in our battles here on earth as He was. See each person as God sees them, a beloved one that needs to be gently put back on the right path. Learn what is going on, lean in to connect with the person; not the mantra or movement. And then use confrontation in love. Offering restoration will bring forth good fruits of salvation and more workers into the kingdom.
Notice this says “every morning”? It includes this morning in that promise and tomorrow. Let us continue to encourage each other with psalms, hymns, and songs of praise. If you don’t have a song of joy in your heart, ask Holy Spirit to provide one. This world is getting darker, but that means our light is growing brighter as we walk in Christ. Our salt is getting saltier as we share what God has done for us! How will others know of the goodness of God toward those He loves if we don’t share His goodness we’ve experienced? If we join in rehearsing all the problems and how the world is ‘going to hell in a handbasket’, we just add fuel to the funeral pyre that’s being built with words and chaos in our nation and around the world. I can see the forces of evil dancing with glee as we devour each other without them lifting a finger!
Notice the things that trip us up: carousing, drunkenness, cares of this life. Translate these to overeating, binge watching, lost in a video game… crisis or drama in your life fed by social media. 
This passage packs a lot in! Do not be 
So, are we to prepare for “Jacob’s troubles”; hide away, buy gold and precious metals, stockpile food, water, TOILET PAPER?? Should we despair, throw up our hands and look for Jesus to come on the clouds? Or are we poised for a third Great Awakening and the biggest revival ever? 
Listening to various prophets and aligning their words with Scripture, I believe we are amid birth pangs. If you’ve ever experienced actual birth pangs, you know they are not steady or intense at first. As labor proceeds, the pains come more frequent, steady and increase in intensity. I’ve had labors last about four hours, although it could have been longer. First labor I had a foot pressing on my rib the entire day before and didn’t go into noticeable labor until my water broke at 11 p.m. and we headed to the hospital and delivered within less than an hour. My fourth pregnancy I started bleeding before I really had any contractions, put in a birthing bed at midnight with erratic contractions until they administered pitocin at 10 A.M. and delivered our third son about an hour later. Before hard, fast contractions, that labor had simmered for most of 12 hours. In these days of increasing pressure and persecution; Spirit labor pains, how should we conduct ourselves as the Body of Christ? Let’s look at some more Scriptures.
Musings along life's journey 